2016 NPS Scores are out – so what?

Net Promoter Scores for Imaging Channel in North America 2016

So the 2016 NPS Scores are out, both the CEO Juice ones and the Satmetrix related industries. Results may say your dealership is outperforming the market. It’s interesting, but what will you do with the information?

Based on what I have seen recently, most companies will do very little. Possibly post the result on their website. Will they use it to differentiate themselves from their competition? Probably not, do your sales team understand it enough to sell it?

Does your dealership have the X Factor?

Anyone who has attended a job interview has been asked the question what makes you different from the other candidates. It’s a bit unsettling because it is a tricky query, and rarely does our resumé provide the answer (most resumes look remarkably similar). Our prospects are either asking or thinking the same thing. They want us to make their lives easier by unearthing a company that has something different to offer.

I’ve asked the same question to numerous dealers and searched for the answer on their website and almost every time the response makes the company sound like everyone else. Typically it is “we have been in business since 1990, provide great service, have excellent employees”. The net result is that it confirms what the customer suspected, these companies all sound much the same and they should focus on negotiating a good price.

We talked in earlier posts about Inbound Marketing (click here for more) and how it is focused on attracting customers to you by providing content that is interesting and relevant to them. The Net Promoter Score ties in with this nicely. If you have customers that are raving fans, it is likely due to the fact you are thinking like a customer, that you have demonstrated what you have done to address their issues. This is where you will find the source of what makes your company unique and allows you to stand out from the crowd.

Is it worth doing something about it?

That’s a reasonable question. Your company may have been around a long while and those messages of why you, have stood you in good stead. What has changed is the buyer. The bulk of their work is done online now before they ever engage with you (Click here for more). If the message they see on your website and from your sales guy is “great service, best products, been in business 30 years” they will assume you are pretty much the same as every other company with a similar message. A recent industry survey showed that customers actually cared more about billing accuracy (click here for more) than they did about how long you have been in business. They can relate to the problems inaccurate invoices cause them and there is a real value if you can take that pain away. Ultimately your message should relate to the problems you solve for people.

I’m not saying this is easy, if it was you would have done something about it already. It’s one of the modules in our Sales Training Program (click here for more) and it takes sales guys a while to seriously question what makes their company different. A few dealers are getting it and we have seen some strong messages. If you would like us to review your current 30 second commercial and give you some pointers contact us.